Live the message

Recently I was invited to speak to a group of journalism students who were heading to Timor for a school project. Preparing for the session reminded me of why I left journalism four years ago, and how my values have changed since then.

It’s often been said that journalists have a ringside seat in the arena of history. They witness the unfolding of history and strive to record those stories with objectivity and impartiality. I do appreciate and affirm the important social service that journalists fulfill.

But somewhere along the way, I decided that it was time to get off the spectator stands, and step into the arena of history itself. Instead of merely watching things happen, I wanted to get involved and make things happen. Instead of being impartial, I wanted to be on God’s side. At a very fundamental level, I came to reject the journalistic practices of observing and commenting. I mean, why just write about something, when you could be doing something tangible to actively bring about God’s best and highest plans for an individual, community, or nation? Why just observe and comment, when you could personally intervene to actively change someone’s life for the better?

In my younger days, I was quite a photography buff. I even went to the trouble of taking a heavy tripod everywhere during my travels in Europe and America in my university days. That interest has become dormant, and I suspect it will stay that way, simply because I want to live life as an active agent, rather than see the world through a viewfinder, waiting for a good shot.

Nowadays, with the proliferation of media equipment and software, almost everyone is a journalist of sorts. When I meet young people who say they are passionate about media, I sometimes am tempted to offer unsolicited advice, but I have always censored myself! However, I shall break the silence today.

(1) Remember that the word “media” is just the plural form of the word “medium”. And the medium is just that, a medium, a form, a channel. Don’t make the particular medium you are good at into a god. In fact, it is a servant of the message. Don’t confuse the two.

(2) And you are a messenger. You are a steward of the message. Do you actually know the message? Can you be trusted to tell it truthfully, without omission or embellishment? It is a high calling to be a messenger.

(3) You, the messenger, are not the message. There is a profound difference. It is not about you.

(4) You can however, choose to live the message. What is your life message? If someone watched you live your life and had to complete this sentence “Life for him (or her) is about…”, what would it be?

(5) Technological mastery of the medium does not equal effective communication. By all means, develop technical proficiency and stay abreast of the latest technological trends if you must. But becoming more tech-savvy alone does not necessarily make you a more effective communicator.

This truth hit me as I left the NTU campus after my session with the students. I had forgotten to tell them not to bring any new or expensive gadgets to Timor, because the unstable voltage would spoil their rechargeable devices. I wondered if they could still complete their assignments should their laptops or cameras malfunction there.

And then, I remembered M2E - an acronym I learnt about during a workshop on church planting principles years ago. It stands for “Mouth to Ear Evangelism”. In analyzing the characteristics of church planting movements, it was highlighted that the gospel spread most effectively through “mouth to ear” evangelism – one person telling another person the gospel. It’s that simple.

Which made me think: Stripped of gadgets and the entire infrastructure of modern communications like high-speed internet access and all the latest gadgets, can we relate to someone face-to-face and tell a story with nothing more than our mouths, into someone’s ear, and move him deeply?

What would it take for that to happen? Well for one, the Holy Spirit must come. And on our part, we’ll need a huge dose of sincerity, humility, compassion, a willingness to be vulnerable and honest, and a deep respect for the other. These are all qualities that are slowly cultivated in the school of life. In this age of instant gratification, mass production and virtual identities, these qualities are certainly something we are at risk of losing.